I just got through with Genshiken Volume 2 and I'm beginning to wonder if this series is about anime and manga at all. It just seems like it's about sex. Everyone in Genshiken seems obsessed with porno computer games, porno videogames, porno manga, porno anime, to the extent that it just feels like it's not about otaku anymore. Really, it's more a sex comedy than anything else. I do not sense the passion for anime and manga that I get in Comic Party or Maniac Road. Genshiken would make an uninitiated reader think that ALL anime and manga fans are only interested in porn, which plays to an erroneous American stereotype. I just feel that the author should have been more honest, and maybe just made it like HappyMania or Flowers & Bees, and dropped the pretense of the otaku element. Maybe the writer was only trying to display one element of otaku culture, but it just gets a little boring, when kinkiness seems to be the only thing driving these characters. I like the manga ok, it's just that it has placed to many self-limitations on itself.

Hm, personally I never found Genshiken to be perverted at all. So it references the sexual part of otaku culture, fact of the matter is, ero-games and H-doujinshi are a big part of that fandom among the upper high school and college-aged male crowd. In that respect, Genshiken's not that much of a departure from real life; otakudom in most cases is hardly the glorified "burning shounen passion" for anime that the likes of Comic Party tend to exaggerate.

Comic Party was adopted from an H-game. Anime/manga versions deleted all H scenes though.

If I remember correctly, Maniac Road was serialized in a shounen magazine (not THE Shonen Magazine), and couldn't mention too much about sex. Besides, the author wanted to emphasize on modeling, particularly military modeling.

But Genshiken is on Afternoon, a typical seinen magazine.

You also might ask why most doujin manga / doujin games have to be erotic. The reason is very simple: if you draw / program a non-erotic doujin, you need a very good story AND very good drawing skills to attract enough people to buy it. If it's erotic, while good story and drawing skills are always pluses, an average story with average skills can sell enough copies if it has enough sex scenes. That's the reality.

Comic Party was adopted from an H-game. Anime/manga versions deleted all H scenes. If it's erotic, while good story and drawing skills are always pluses, an average story with average skills can sell enough copies if it has enough sex scenes. That's the reality.

I didn't know that about Comic Party. There were a couple of racy shots in the manga version.

I guess just like in America, sex sells.

Are most amateur comics in Japan that use established characters from manga or anime sexually explicit? I mean did Clamp do comics like that when they were starting out? If you went to a comic fest in Tokyo, would that be the only kind of doujinshi you would find?

I do not think Genshiken is "perverted" and I have read both volumes. I just felt that the characters could have been stronger and more complex.

Are most amateur comics in Japan that use established characters from manga or anime sexually explicit? I mean did Clamp do comics like that when they were starting out? If you went to a comic fest in Tokyo, would that be the only kind of doujinshi you would find?

Yes and no. First, many established characters have ecchi / suggestive scenes, and fans want to see them having sex. Second, using established characters saves a lot of time designing original characters and their stories. However, sometimes original characters with good art and story can surprise potential buyers, including big companies which may be willing to promote and publish your artwork.

I don't know much about CLAMP's history, so I can't answer the second question.

The real title of the event is Comic Market, or Comiket for short. Of course there are non-erotic doujinshi, but I don't know the ratio, for I haven't been there...

I do not think Genshiken is "perverted" and I have read both volumes. I just felt that the characters could have been stronger and more complex.

Keep reading. What happens later in Genshiken will surprise you; the characters, I found, are very deep. One of the purposes of the manga is to show that there are stereotypes about these people, but they're only skin deep.

Keep reading. What happens later in Genshiken will surprise you; the characters, I found, are very deep. One of the purposes of the manga is to show that there are stereotypes about these people, but they're only skin deep.

Great. That's exactly what I wanted to hear . I think I have a long wait until volume 3 comes out though. November?
I like the book and have watched the first volume of anime but I just think it has so much more potential than has so far been shown.

I just got through with Genshiken Volume 2 and I'm beginning to wonder if this series is about anime and manga at all. It just seems like it's about sex. Everyone in Genshiken seems obsessed with porno computer games, porno videogames, porno manga, porno anime, to the extent that it just feels like it's not about otaku anymore. Really, it's more a sex comedy than anything else. I do not sense the passion for anime and manga that I get in Comic Party or Maniac Road. Genshiken would make an uninitiated reader think that ALL anime and manga fans are only interested in porn, which plays to an erroneous American stereotype. I just feel that the author should have been more honest, and maybe just made it like HappyMania or Flowers & Bees, and dropped the pretense of the otaku element. Maybe the writer was only trying to display one element of otaku culture, but it just gets a little boring, when kinkiness seems to be the only thing driving these characters. I like the manga ok, it's just that it has placed to many self-limitations on itself.

ONly one element of otaku culture? You got that wrong. You have a cosplaying fanatic otaku, you have the geeky milatry otaku, you have the videogame otaku etc. Heck, even a fat timid otaku guy or weird otaku girl. Sure the guys are perverted, a lot of anime fan are perverted. The real comedy itself is Saki and how she conflict with these otakus and yet be a part of their culture. Whether you find this funny or not, that's up to you, but you have to understand otaku to appreciate it.

Also not all the anime/manga and game are porn. Guilty Gear is not porn, Kubical Unbalance is not porn. Unlike American ideal of otaku, otaku in japan are consider outkast of society with no girlfriend. They are in college and these erotic adult games and henta doushijin are pretty much targeting them. Heck they made a hentai out of Evangelion or Final Fantasy just to cater to these fanatic.

Erotic anime and manga are part of the japanese culture, why do you think there are so many harem/fanservice anime are put out every year. Anime fans love fanservice, but the japanese otaku are a little be more extreme.

Have you been to Japan and seen japanese otaku in action? If not and you're just going by american ideal of otakuism (in which many fan proclaim their love with anime by calling themself otaku) . Start by watching Otaku no Video, because Comic Party to me seem more like a parody of otakusm than a portray.

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